FG to construct 477km Africa Tran Sahara superhighway in Ebonyi
By Amarachi Ehia, Abakaliki
The Federal Government Wednesday said it would construction the 477km Africa Tran Sahara superhighway.
The project is expected to cover Cross River, Southeast -North Central — APO-Abuja Superhighway — spur of Lagos -Port Harcourt — Crossing Enugu State, passing through Ebonyi to Ogoja, in Northern Cross River State.
The Minister for Works and Transportation, Sen. David Umahi disclosed this during the stakeholders’ engagement meeting on works held in Exco chambers, new government house, Abakaliki.
Umahi who described the project as an agricultural-economic corridor said when completed, the project will boost the economy of the South East and promote the food subsidy drive by President Bola Tinubu.
The Minister further described the project as Tinubu’s legacy project and urged South East and other regions to support it in order to ease the perennial problems encounter by farmers in the evacuation of agricultural produce.
“It’s an economic agricultural viable route that will enable Ebonyi State to now bring a lot of their rice within this corridor.
“There is a lot of rice production here, potatoes and yams and there is no road to transport them. So, these is going to help us to bring out our agricultural produce to support Mr. President policy on food sufficiency. So, it’s an agricultural economic corridor
“Let me on behalf of Mr. President unveil the three legacy projects of Mr. President. Let me emphasize that these legacy projects are not just mere projects”, he stated.
Governor Francis Nwifuru in his remarks, said through the stakeholder’s engagement, his administration aims to share infrastructural development plans and progress since it came on board 14 months ago.
He described it as a signature project and prayed for its timely completion
“Listen to your feedback and concerns regarding the inclusion of Ebonyi State in the 477km road which traverses Cross River, Southeast -North Central —APO-Abuja Superhighway —spur of Lagos -Port Harcourt —Crossing Enugu State and passing through our dear Abakaliki, then to Ogoja, in northern Cross River State.
“It is indeed a huge signature project; we pray God it comes to timely fruition; Foster collaboration and partnerships by- identify opportunities for innovation and investment in the project given its associated socioeconomic potentialities. Our people are predominantly agrarians and this wonderful initiative we are going to benefit from will further assist our rural farmers to evacuate their farm produce to viable markets
“This engagement this afternoon— I repeat is predicated on our believe that effective infrastructure development— requires a collective effort from government, private sector, and civil society. This administration is committed to creating an enabling environment for investment and ensuring that our infrastructure meets the needs of our citizens.
“Once again, I thank Mr. President for this wonderful show of love not only to Ebonyi State but to the entire Ndigbo. We are indeed very grateful for a number of Federal projects being executed in our dear State which are in tandem with our resolve to make life easier for the people”, Nwifuru stated.
